If you missed the newest edition to kids' animated holiday classics, don't worry, a lot of people did. The premiere of Disney's Prep & Landing was a mess in our area. The date was changed, I think twice, and the local ABC channel didn't run the show last week. The special is available on the Disney website, and it will air again tomorrow night (check local ABC listings). But, is it worth watching?

Created by Disney and premiering on ABC, Prep & Landing definitely has the holiday hype going for it. In some ways, the hype is deserved. The movie is fun, somewhat clever, and well-animated. When we watched it, though, our reaction was, "What? That's it? Really?" We were having so much fun getting into the story, and then suddenly, it was over. Not a huge storyline there, since it's only 30 minutes long -- about the length of a kids' animated TV show. Oh well, at least we have a new favorite phrase for the holiday, "Oh, frostbite!" I'm sure we'll be well into spring by the time the kids stop saying that one.

(Photo © Disney)

More kids' animated holiday specials new to DVD this year:

• Gotta Catch Santa Claus: A great new special for kids ages 6+ or so, Gotta Catch Santa Claus follows a group of school kids -- fairly smart school kids too -- who come up with a plan to catch Santa in hopes of proving, or disproving for some, his existence. Their plan runs into a little problem, though, when they discover that they aren't the only ones trying to nab the guy in the big red suit this year.



• A Miser Brothers' Christmas: This special looks and feels like one of the old-time Christmas shows, and the Miser Brothers were in an old Rankin-Bass classic The Year Without Santa Claus, but their own holiday show only premiered last year. In their new show, the brothers' bickering gets out of control, but when Santa is in trouble, they might be able to help if they can just pull together.

New on DVD/Blu-ray Today:

• G-Force
• Wizards of Waverly Place the Movie

Ever since the first Harry Potter movie came out years ago, Harry Potter has become part of the holiday season. The movies are played on TV as part of holiday lineups, and generally a Potter movie is released around the holidays in theaters or on DVD. I guess it's all the magic and snow that makes them seem appropriate for the season.

This year, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is new on DVD and Blu-ray, and the studio has incorporated the magic of BD Live. Did anyone else catch the chat with Daniel Radcliff and director David Yates over the weekend? On Saturday afternoon, the two chatted with Blu-ray owning fans during a screening of the movie. Apparently, there was a way to listen to the audio, but we couldn't get that to work, so we just had to read all of the questions and answers as the chat was happening. Daniel and Dave answered questions from fans (via a moderator) about the movie, life on the set, and more. The whole thing was pretty fun, but would have been much better with audio or especially if there had been an ability to see them as they were answering questions. Looking at how studios are starting to use Blu-ray capabilities, though, it's interesting to think what the future of interactive viewing will be like.

In addition to the Live functionality, the sixth Harry Potter DVD also contains a wealth of bonus features, many of which focus on the actors. They talk about everything from the movie to the famous people they've met to sports and more. The most interesting feature to our family, though, is the featurette on a year in the life of J.K. Rowling. Viewers get a glimpse into where she came from and what she is like. How fascinating it is to get such a close-up look at someone so famous and mysterious. She actually seems to be very down to earth and an all around nice person; someone one wouldn't begrudge enjoying all the wealth she has come into thanks to her own impressive imagination and astounding writing skills.

Fans of the Harry Potter series will also be excited by the exclusive new footage from the next Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The movie is set to be released November 19, 2010, just in time for the holidays.

(Photo from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One. © Warner Bros. Entertainment inc. Photo credit: Jaap Buitendijk)

I drove through McDonlad's to get the kids some pancakes yesterday, and noticed that the kids' meal toys now feature characters from the movie Avatar, the PG-13 movie which will hit theaters in 3D on Friday, December 18. The movie gets the rating "for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking." McDonald's and other fast food joints frequently market PG-13 movies to kids through toys in the kids' meals, but this is only part of the problem.

According to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), PG-13 movies are regularly advertised on children's networks. Not only that, but the organization claims that the "FTC's review of studio marketing plans demonstrates that violent PG-13 movies are deliberately targeted to young children, even when studios are aware that parents object to this practice." In fact, they say that an FTC report shows that in one case, "when market research found that many parents of children ages 7 to 12 were concerned that a movie was too violent, the studio did not alter its plan to market the film to young children. Instead, the studio changed its advertisements to deemphasize the violent content to "convince more parents that [this movie] will be 'safe for their kids to see.'"

While I hope that parents would be cautious about the toys they buy children and the messages those toys send, I can't say that I think there should be laws or regulation of the toy companies. If a parent wants to buy their kids a Batman toy, or a Spiderman toy, I think that is their choice. However, I do have a problem with ads for those movies being run on kids' TV networks. Parents should be able to trust a network designated for kids to carry only kid-appropriate content, even the commercials.

What do you think about the advertising of PG-13 movies to kids through toys and ads? Will you be taking the kids to see Avatar? If so, how old are they? (Use the "comments" link to share your opinion, or answer the poll below.)

The highly anticipated The Princess and the Frog Disney movie opens wide this Friday. If you've been in a Disney store lately, you can easily tell that Disney has gone all out with this one. The Princess Tiana dolls are gorgeous, and the dress-up clothes and accessories are straight out of little girls' dreams. The new Disney Princess has arrived, and she is going to be a prominent figure under many Christmas trees this year.

The Princess and the Frog is set in New Orleans and presents a musical new take on the old froggy fable. The animation may be the old school 2D style, but computer animation has nothing on the beauty and magic conveyed by the animation in The Princess and the Frog. Traditional 2d animation has a timeless element, and like other Disney Princess movies, this new version of a classic tale will likely be enjoyed by generations to come.

(Photo © Disney)